A Year of Growth

2015 was another big year for the City of Lakes Community Land Trust (CLCLT). One of the larger changes for the organization was the merger with Neighborhood Housing Services of Minneapolis (NHSM) in July. In addition to growing the CLCLT staffing by close to 50% with the addition of Glennis Ter Wisscha and Karin Williamson from NHSM, the CLCLT will now have the opportunity to better serve the larger community through an array of down payment and rehab loan products in 2016. NHSM has a strong legacy in Minneapolis of serving the community and the CLCLT is looking to carry on that commitment to the community and residents served.

By year-end 2015, we will have assisted 40 new households achieve CLCLT homeownership and we will be the stewards of over 200 affordable homes in Minneapolis (representing less than .25% of all ownership units in Minneapolis). Each of these homes will remain perpetually affordable with no or very little additional affordability investments needed ever again. The CLCLT has also now facilitated over 35 resales to new households. It’s important to note that essentially no new public investments were needed to create the affordability for the 35 resales due to the long-term affordability mechanism built into the community land trust. The Community Land Trust way of homeownership is working!

We have a long way to go as we’ve come to understand the great desire that hundreds of low- and moderate-income households have to purchase a home in Minneapolis before the cost of housing further exceeds their means, but we are well poised to grow our impact and we believe the community is increasingly supportive of the CLCLT. Much of this can be attributed to our members and their support of our mission; through their financial support, referrals, public testimonies or their artistic endeavors that feature the CLCLT in some way. We would not be here without all of them and we look forward to what 2016 will bring.